


I Think That Possibly, Maybe I'm Falling For You

by dorkpatroller



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: And an author, Christmas fic, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Modern AU, coffee shop AU, dad bod niles, odin is a hot younger guy, single dad niles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 20:27:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17290847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorkpatroller/pseuds/dorkpatroller
Summary: Niles doesn't know a lot about that guy who comes into his shop to write, but he does know that given the chance he would probably take a shot on him. Or off of him. Literally off of his abs. But that's wishful thinking and Odin, as it turns out, has a whole complex backstory.





	1. Cold December Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lieano](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lieano/gifts).



> I wrote this as a Christmas gift to @lieano! She let me upload it for you, so please enjoy the how do i fuck this terrible writer Christmas Special!
> 
> in true last-minute Christmas fashion, this isn't well edited. Sorry!

**_Stockings are hung with care_ **

**_The children sleep with one eye open_ **

**_Now there's more than toys at stake_ **

**_'Cause I'm older now but not done hoping_ **

**_Each year I ask for many different things_ ** ****__  
**_But now I know what my heart wants you to bring_ ** ****__  
**_So please just fall in love with me this Christmas_ ** ****__  
**_There's nothing else that I would need this Christmas_ ** ****__  
**_Won't be wrapped under the tree_ ** ****__  
**_I want something that lasts forever_ ** **_  
_ ** ****_So kiss me on this cold December night_

  
  


There’s a gentle jingle of silver bells over the door as Odin pushes it open. He’s been here a few times before, but this is his favorite place to go when he needs to write. Call him cliche for liking the smell of coffee when he has to focus, but he would much rather be someplace less crowded. This place is nice because most of the booths are up front, but there in the corner, there’s a table and set of chairs that are almost always vacant. Right next to the stairs.

 

It’s in the window where he can see the world pass by and the harsh, Nohrian snow falling down over the dirty streets. The skies are grey and it’s always a little chilly there in that spot, just out of reach of the central heating, but it’s the perfect place to settle in for a long time writing. The chairs aren’t exactly the most comfortable, but there’s a little cushion to them and Odin usually pulls his legs up onto the chair with him to sit cross-legged. He’s way too tall for that, really, a grown man… but it’s how he’s comfortable when he has to focus and to write a novel of this caliber focus is of the utmost importance! 

 

The whole coffee shop is kind of dim. There’s this honey glow over it and Christmas lights are twisted around the counters, from the windows, and even tucked into the dessert display. Usually, there’s a couple kids working. Kids his age, in college, or younger. They work part-time in this coffee shop to get through, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Odin worked through college too. He only just quit a few weeks ago, since he’ll be heading home soon. 

 

But it’s a shame, because he does love Nohr. There’s something distinctly special about it. All of it, but this coffee shop in particular. He’s got no idea what draws him here. They’re a dime a dozen and the one up the road makes better lemonade. Then again, as the owner comes clopping down the stairs that lead up to the second level of the building. He can’t be perfectly sure, but Odin thinks he lives up there. Not in a weird way. The building is old and he’s perfectly certain that there’s an upstairs apartment. It’s just the way that Niles--and he knows that’s his name--comes down the stairs pulling his hair back into a low ponytail and whispering gentle curses that makes Odin believe he’s just waking up late. 

 

He brushes Odin’s arm with his hip while he walks past and he turns to apologize. “Oh, hey, my bad.” 

 

“No harm done!” Odin chirps in a voice just a little too high, and then Niles winks at him and turns back to the counter flap he’s pushing his way through. 

 

“Peri I owe you my life,” He says. He’s not talking loudly. Odin has his eyes on the computer, but he’s just… eavesdropping. Like a criminal staking out a building, like a nosey busybody. He does it anyway. Niles pulls a paper cup from the stack and he huffs when it’s the last one in the despenser, so he sets it aside. While he’s talking he pulls a new sleeve of perfectly medium sized cups out and reloads the dispenser. “Nina has a cold and she couldn’t sleep, and so  _ I  _ couldn’t sleep. Winter break just started for her and it completely slipped my mind that now I have to set an alarm because she’s not going to wake me up like clockwork.” 

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Peri is one of his employees. She’s a little younger than Odin, with her hair in fluffy, cotton candy pigtails. She’s arranging the treats in the dessert display and she shrugs her shoulders. “That’s why you gave me a shop key, I guess. So you can sleep in and I can do all the work.” 

 

Niles picks up the cup like he forgot he was going to make himself a drink. Then he chuckles at her and shakes his head while he pours black coffee into the cup. “Me? Why, never.” A loud buzzer blares from the kitchen and Peri pops back into an upright position so she can go get whatever it is she’s baking. 

 

She walks away, Niles wraps his perfectly dark fingers around the coffee cup. Just to feel the heat, Odin can practically feel it too. He can almost breathe in the steam himself, and he keeps watching while Niles closes his eyes and just inhales it. When he opens his eyes again, they’re directly on Odin’s. It’s like they’re starcrossed in that moment. Odin can feel his entire soul pour out into Niles’s gaze, spilling every detail of his crush on him. His reaction comes a few seconds too late, and he startles and looks back down at the computer. 

 

_ Maybe he won’t say anything. _

 

The counter flap lifts again and Niles walks out from behind it. Odin bites his own tongue. Then Niles sits down in the seat across from him and Odin is forced to peer back at him. “S-Salutations!” 

 

“Hello again,” Niles says. He sets his cheek in his hand and looks Odin over a few too many times. Heat blossoms like roses in his cheeks under his stare and it nearly hurts to maintain it. Niles is actually the image of a god. He’s got this hair, it’s so thick and it looks so soft. Like if Odin wanted to he could comb his fingers through it or if he  _ really _ wanted to he could tangle them up in it. And it’s long, obviously. Long enough that it can be pulled back into this absurdly adorable ponytail that  _ barely _ qualifies as more than a poof ball. His bangs aren’t long enough to stay in it, they always get in his face and Odin has seen him tuck them behind his ears too many times to count when he’s working. 

 

His eyes are stark blue that makes Odin’s heart fall into his knees every time he sees them. Clear, crisp, like a sunny day back home, framed by those light colored lashes like the clouds, and… Well, Odin needs to stop daydreaming about him and figure out why he’s here. 

 

“Is, um. Er, I,” He tries. Not a single one of his sentences pans out into anything legitimate, and so he just lets himself trail into silence again while Niles hums at him. 

 

“Are you the one who wrote that book? About the girl and her friends who go back in time and fight a dragon?” 

 

Odin sputters. “You read it?!” 

 

“Well, yes and no.” Niles twists his hand around in the air, thoughtfully. “My daughter read it. It’s her favorite.” 

 

Odin could talk about how proud he is that his book is someone’s favorite book. He’s worked hard on that! He started writing it as a completely incompetent fanfiction in middle school and now he’s written an entire novel out of the skeleton of that plot. 

 

He would rather talk about how the man who is  _ probably _ the underlying cause of why he likes this coffee shop so much has a daughter. “I’m flattered! And what is the name of this young fan?”

 

Niles snorts. Oh, god, Odin could swoon. He didn’t know Niles has a daughter, that’s certain, but he’s not that surprised. He’s a little older than Odin’s parents would probably approve of. That is, he’s probably in his mid thirties. Odin is barely twenty-three, and to be honest he never thought he would develop such a strong crush on an older man either. He wasn’t even entirely certain he was interested in men at all. 

 

It’s really just  _ this _ man. This specific, gorgeous, stunning man. He’s so handsome! And now, smiling while he thinks about his little girl and absently scritching his chin where some stubble is coming in, Odin is blushing again. 

 

“Nina. She’s a brat but she’s a good kid underneath it. I was wondering… Well, she’s sick right now but I bet she would perk right up if I snuck that book down here for you to sign. I can pay you for it.” 

 

“What? No! I wouldn’t ask for money.” Odin would be happy to sign the book! “Were it that she was feeling better, it would be my honor to meet her.” 

 

Niles pushes himself up into a standing position again, but he looks down at Odin with a hint of suspicion. “Do you always talk like that?”

 

“Most of the time,” Odin answers. Niles chuckles again and walks past him towards the stairs. He’s going to fetch that book, no doubt… but he squeezes Odin’s shoulder as he passes him and Odin melts into himself. 

 

While he’s gone the only thing in the room besides Odin and his computer screen is the buzzing of a news station on the television mounted in the corner. It’s nothing interesting at first, but then there’s a flash of red on the screen and the news anchor has a special announcement. 

 

He says the airports are all shut down. Flights in and out of Nohr will stay that way for the rest of the week, because of what may have been some kind of terrorism related “event.” Odin’s heart sinks. Does that include  _ his  _ flight out? 

 

He’s barely looked back down at his screen before his computer makes a whooshing noise and his phone vibrates in unison. As it turns out, the airline has already sent him information on how to get his ticket refunded. 

 

“Uh oh,” Niles says. Odin looks up to see him standing right where he was moments ago, across from Odin’s seat. He blinks once, and then Niles says “What’s with that face?” 

 

“Er--nothing, it’s just… I’ve just found out the airport will be shut down for the rest of the week, and I just… moved out of my dorm this morning. Permanently.” All of his belongings have already been shipped home! Or, he wonders, did that plane get canceled too? All he has to his name right now is his phone, his computer, and a few pairs of clothes to get him through the layovers. 

 

Niles sits down in the seat across from him again. “Huh,” He says. “That’s rough.” 

 

Well, yes it is. Odin shakes his head and reaches out for the book. It’s not Nina’s fault that the plane got canceled. He’s got a sharpie in his backpack, and he uses that to write on the inside cover. 

 

“What does she like?” He asks, having only just written her name. “What are her interests?” 

 

“Well, for now she’s just hyper fixated on love stories. That’s why she likes yours, I think. She’s convinced some of the characters are in love.” Niles shrugs his shoulders. Odin smiles and tilts his eyes back down to write. 

 

_ Dearest Nina, _

_ The nightingale sings a song of love, carries the tales across the land.  _

_ I’ll be dreaming of the day your stories are told far and wide as well. _

_ You’ll know me one day as your biggest fan. _

_ \--Odin Dark. _

 

He pushes it back to Niles who looks it over, and then he sighs. “Where were you heading?”

 

“Ylisse. My parents live there.”

 

“I don’t imagine you can take a boat,” Niles mumbles. “Do you have a job?” 

 

“Not anymore,” He admits. Writing that book was the greatest thing he’s ever done! That said, it doesn’t pay the bills. 

 

“Can you wait tables?” 

 

“I… yes.” Odin pauses to look at Niles skeptically. “Why?” 

 

“If you need a place to stay for a few days until they reschedule your flight… We’ve got an extra room upstairs. I’ll let you crash there if you work a few shifts here for me. We just lost a couple kids who went home for the winter break anyway.” 

 

“Are you… serious?” Odin asks. “You don’t even know me!” 

 

“Well you’re here every day anyway,” Niles shrugs. “May as well put you on payroll.” 

 

“Not! Not every day,” Odin mumbles. Still, he should be counting his blessings. This act of kindness from a mostly-stranger will save him from having to try and scrape by for a hotel. “Still, I appreciate this. Show me to my apron, sir, and I will be the greatest server you’ve ever had!” 

 

“Hold your horses, Odin. You can finish your breakfast first.” Niles smiles but he looks like he’s trying to hide it. That elusive, devilish smirk… that’s twice as compelling as the earlier smiles.

 

…

 

“It’s not much to look at,” Niles says while he guides Odin up the stairs. At the top of the stairs there’s a short landing and then another door that looks like any other. He turns a key in the lock and it opens up into a living room. It’s not fancy or modern or anything special. There’s a sofa that looks like it was probably cream colored once but it’s faded into beige. A coffee table, a couple of chairs, a television and a standing lamp. On the wall there are several family photographs of Niles and who Odin can only assume is Nina, but there aren’t any photos of her mother. He’s not really inclined to ask what happened to her, considering he’ll only be staying here for a week. Crush or not, it’s unrealistic. Odin is going home to Ylisse and Niles will be living here in Nohr. 

 

“She’s still in bed,” Niles says about Nina. “But she doesn’t have the plague or anything--just a cold that she’s being dramatic about.” 

 

“I don’t want to wake her,” Odin says. Niles dismisses it. He leads him down the hall and there’s a room on the left, the right, and at the end. There’s also a linen closet with no door on it, and a little bathroom. He pushes open the door on the left and it squeaks when it opens. Inside there’s a fair array of junk, to be fair. A desk with boxes piled on it, a bicycle shoved up against a wall, even an old basket piled high with blankets. Still, there’s a clear path to the bed and the bed itself is clean and made up with pillows and blankets. 

 

It’s more than enough. Odin still can’t really wrap his head around the fact that he’s not abruptly homeless. He’s lucky, so lucky. Maybe this is some kind of sign that he should be wooing him. Christmas is in a few days, the weather is perfect for a winter romance, and he’s going to be  _ living in Niles’s house _ . 

 

“It’s worse than I remembered,” Niles admits. He walks past Odin to straighten up some of the junk on the desk… but then he just leaves it there in a slightly-more-organized pile. Odin grins at him.

 

“It’s homey! I couldn’t ask for more.” 

 

“Well that’s a lie,” Niles flashes him a smile. “Alright, well this is where you can stay. There’s a lock on the door if you need it, the bathroom is down the hall, and since you’re working for your keep here you can eat anything you want, just check the dates on the containers.” 

 

Those rules seem simple enough. “When would it be best for me to take a shift for your shop? Is there a rush hour?” 

 

“I’ll probably have you down there from noon to six. You can take some breaks, but that’ll cover the rushes. I mostly just need someone to take drinks out to tables and clear away dishes.” 

 

“I’m your man,” Odin assures him. He’s perfectly capable of this.

 

“Great. Well I’m heading back downstairs. When you come down for your shift just press the little lock button in the knob on your way out the front door. Oh, and try not to give Nina a heart attack.” 

 

He dips out of the room and Odin is left to look around, helplessly. There’s a window in this room too, smaller and covered up by curtains and mini blinds. He can still see the snow coming down outside of it, too, but writing is the furthest thing from his mind. 

 

He calls his parents, first. He tells them the news and they’re devastated, of course, that their baby won’t be making it home for the holiday. They’re happy to hear that Niles is letting him stay there (although neither of them  _ remember _ Odin talking about his friend Niles from school who lives there before) and they offer to send some money his way if he needs some to get by. 

 

Then he lays back on the bed and gets to the important messaging of the day. He fires off a message in his group chat with Laslow and Selena while he’s still feeling powerful and not stupid. 

 

_ They closed all the flights out of Nohr _

_ I’m spending the week with the man who  _

_ owns the coffee shop  _

 

**_Laslow of Azure Skies_ **

_ Wait ur not coming home _

_ That sucks _

_ I already got ur gifts _

 

**_Selena the Moonborn_ **

_ The coffee shop guy you said you were into? _

 

**_Laslow of Azure Skies_ ** **_  
_ ** _ WHAT WAIT REALLY _

_ THAT COFFEE GUY _

_ PLEASE _

 

_ Well, yes, that’s the one. He offered! _

_ It’s nothing scandalous. _

_ Don’t jump to conclusions. _

 

**_Laslow of Azure Skies_ **

_ I’m begging you to jump him _

 

**_Selena the Moonborn_ **

_ EXCUSE ME  _

_ Do not listen to him _

 

**_Laslow of Azure Skies_ **

_ NO BUT SERIOUSLY ODIN _

_ You think he’s hot and you like him _

_ You never shut up about this guy _

_ I can go back 3 days in this chat and screenshot _

_ AT LEAST 10 times you’ve talked about him _

 

**_Selena the Moonborn_ **

_ Do not just race into this thinking with your dick. _

_ He invited you to stay, there’s a reason right? _

_ Figure it out. _

 

_ I don’t want to burst any metaphorical bubbles… _

_ Niles is just being nice! _

_ I did him a favor by signing his daughter’s book. _

 

**_Selena the Moonborn_ **

_ That’s not doing any favors, that’s bragging. _

_ No one cares about you signing a book. _

 

_ I’m wounded! _

 

**_Laslow of Azure Skies_ **

_ Odin, old friend, if there was ever a time  _

_ Ever at all _

_ To think with ur dick _

_ It’s now. _

 

**_Selena the Moonborn_ **

_ I will drive to your house and fight you Laslow _

 

**_Laslow of Azure Skies_ **

_ How can you say that?! Right now our dear friend is sitting in the _

_ Epicenter of a classic, textbook romance!  _

_ He needs us to support him! _

_ Climb that man like a tree, Odin! _

 

_ OKAY THANKS _

_ You’ve never seen him before  _

_ You have no idea if he’s climbable _

 

**_Selena the Moonborn_ **

_ Well you can climb anything if you’re not a quitter. _

 

**_Laslow of Azure Skies_ **

_ Attagirl!  _

_ Keep me posted okay? _

_ Like every ten minutes. _

_ I want to know when you go in for the kill. _

_ I meant to say kiss but that auto corrected. _

_ Whatever same diff. _

 


	2. My Only Wish

**Santa can you hear me?**

**I have been so good this year**

**And all I want is one thing**

**Tell me my true love is here.**

**He’s all I want, just for me,**

**Underneath my Christmas Tree.**

**I’ll be waiting here,**

**Santa that’s my only wish this year.**

 

Well Niles is the worst father on the face of this Earth, and letting Nina walk out into the front room with her hair a mess and in ratty pajamas when her  _ favorite author _ was there is evidence to that effect. What’s worse than that is that apparently he invited Odin to stay for a little while. It’s an outrage! A crime! Doesn’t Niles  _ know _ how important  _ Odin Dark _ is?

 

Needless to say Nina is  _ in love _ with him. Sure she’s seven and he’s probably whatever age gods are, but he’s literally the perfect man. Big smile, cute freckles, strong and muscle-y… and he even writes books! There’s no argument against him. She’s going to marry that man someday, she decided when she saw his picture in the back of his book two years ago. 

 

Now, some may think the whims of a 5 year old aren’t written in stone, but this one is. The first day that the man of her dreams is spending the night with them, Nina is too afraid to speak up. She’s got a sore throat and no energy and she’s shy. She spends the better part of her time just watching him from a distance. After she’s sent to bed (she  _ is _ sick after all, and exhausted from staying up all night) she peeks out from the hallway. 

 

Odin has his legs curled up under himself on the sofa. The fireplace is burning low and calmly crackling. At first Niles is nowhere to be seen, but then Nina sucks in a tiny gasp and ducks lower around the hall corner. When her father comes back into view he has two glasses of wine in his hand. Tall, thin glasses with only semi bubbly white grown-up-grape-juice in it. Odin looks up from a book only to stare at the glasses and then at Niles.

 

Well he’s probably offended. What kind of weirdo brings wine out to a complete stranger when he’s trying to read? But then he takes the glass in his fingers and he smiles at it. “I’m not really a big wine drinker,” Odin says softly. “Too bitter.” 

 

“Well I can tell you’re not a wine drinker if you think all wine is bitter,” Niles says. He settles on the other side of the sofa with his own glass and Odin looks at him with a raised brow. “Maybe you just haven’t tried the right wine.” 

 

Odin flips the book closed with one hand and sets it aside on the table. Nina watches him eagerly sit up straighter in his spot on his corner of the couch, with room for God and Jesus too between them. But he holds out the glass until Niles realizes he’s trying to make a toast. 

 

“I’ll try anything once. Except strawberries. I’m allergic.” 

 

“Duly noted,” Niles has this crazy smile on his face. Like… Nina has never seen it before. Maybe it’s a combination of reserved and spontaneous. It’s like… almost cute. Which is something because her dad isn’t cute, he’s a monster. “To something new, then.” 

 

Odin smiles again, this time with a rosy glow on his cheeks. Or maybe that’s just the firelight? But their glasses clink together and he brings it to his mouth and takes a sip. There’s something way too amazing about the way he closes his eyes and smiles around the glass, like Nina is watching this in slow motion.

 

“It’s sweet,” Odin says after a moment. 

 

Niles nods his head. “I thought you might like it, Mr. I’m-Too-Good-For-Coffee.” 

 

“I don’t like bitter things!” Odin argues with a laugh. 

 

“Yes, I know. You like strawberry lemonade. Which is incriminating considering you just told me you’re allergic to strawberries. So what’s the truth, big guy?” 

 

Odin snorts into his wine but he manages to save himself with a gentle swipe of the back of his hand along his lips. Nina dips her head to one side. Why is he cute even when he spills stuff? “I’m only allergic to  _ real _ strawberries. Thank goodness the owner is a fan of artificial flavoring.” 

 

“Don’t tell my customers that,” Niles snorts. “The lemons are real.” 

 

“I’m not allergic to lemons.” Niles leans across the couch and shoves Odin’s arm like they’re old friends, and Odin laughs again. They stay up late talking, but Nina is too tired to listen to boring old-man-dad talk. She’ll be braver tomorrow and talk to Odin in the morning.

 

…

 

“So, Milady Nina,” Odin says the next morning. Niles already went downstairs to open the shop, but Odin doesn’t have to report for duty for a few more hours. Nina cannot  _ believe  _ her father. How can he ask Odin to work for them? He’s like a celebrity! He should stay here for free. He should stay in the fanciest hotels for free! He wrote the best book  _ ever _ ! But she just turns to look at him and Odin goes on to ask “Do you celebrate Christmas?” 

 

“Huh? Yeah. We just don’t usually decorate I guess. It takes forever and then you just have to take the decorations down later.” They usually pull out a fake tree, but they haven’t even done that yet. Where will they put the presents? It’s been a busy month. “I guess I should find the tree, huh?” 

 

“Do you have one?” Odin asks, softer. Nina nods her head. “Yeah, we have a ton. When Grandma died Dad got like all of her decorations from her house, and she was a nut about it. They’re all in the boxes in that room you’re staying in.” 

 

“Hm. Well I was just noticing the lack of holiday festivities decorating your house, and I thought maybe…” 

 

“Do you want to decorate with me?” Nina asks. She knows she’s interrupting him, but she just wants to decorate. Now that he brought it up, this could be fun! And he will probably know how to put the tree together, too. 

 

Thankfully the answer is yes. Odin and Nina head out on a small adventure to the spare bedroom to find all of the decorations. They end up pulling several boxes out of storage, and then opening them to sift through what’s what. The most important addition to the living room is, of course, the tree. They put that up first, and Nina is so impressed! Odin get it together in what must be record time for the household. He doesn’t even need the directions!

 

After that he puts some Christmas music on his phone and they get into the swing of decorating. He hangs garlands and lights around the archways and doors and Nina sets out ceramic santas and singing snowmen. They drape lights and tinsel all over the tree, and Nina pulls out the box of ornaments. While they’re hanging them Odin asks about a few. An old photo of them with Niles’s mom, some flour and salt ornaments of her handprints when she was a baby, and one with a picture of them at Disney World. They’re all sweet, sentimental. Nina thinks they’re kind of sappy, but who is she to tell her dad what he can and can’t have. 

 

Finally the moment of truth comes. When the apartment is nearly done, there’s wreaths on the door and stockings over the fireplace and lights twinkling in every window… that’s when Nina pulls out the most important piece of Christmas Spirit ever invented. 

 

“Odin!” She says and she turns around to face him. “We’ve got to hang this up too! Do you think you can put it in the doorway to the kitchen?” She passes him a sparkly, pretty bundle of fake holly that has berries and ribbons and glitter woven into it. A mistletoe at it’s finest! And Odin takes it from her with a grin.

 

“Of course! Anything you like.” He stands up on his toes and that’s all he needs to do to reach the doorway. Because he’s tall. And super strong. And his arms kind of flex in that yellow sweater while he reaches up to take care of the mistletoe. 

 

Obviously she’s getting a kiss out of this. She wants to be kissed by this man more than  _ anything in this world _ right now! He’s her dream man! So she stays close at hand and acts like she’s innocently watching him hang it. Thank goodness when he’s done he looks down and chuckles at her. “Are you here to test it?” He asks. 

 

_ Please, yes, _ Nina thinks to herself. She nods her head dumbly, and she hopes she’s not drooling, honestly. With the mistletoe in place Odin leans down to get a good grip under her arms, and he practically launches her into the air when he scoops her up. 

 

Nina shrieks but in a happy way. She clings to his neck and shoulders and wraps her knees around him so he can hold her on his hip properly. This is it! The moment of truth! He leans closer… and then he kisses her right on her cheek. 

 

She’s not even disappointed. She is sick, after all, and this is their very first kiss. It should be tasteful. He spins her in a gentle circle and Nina is taken over with a dreamy look in her eyes. Then, the worst possible thing happens. 

 

Her dad shows up. “Oh? Are you trying to run off with my daughter?” Niles asks. Nina groans loudly, and Odin chuckles and lets her slide down from his arms. 

 

“On the contrary, she was the one who cornered me! I think she’s aiming to win my heart.” 

 

_ Got that right, _ Nina thinks. She folds her arms and tries to look pouty, but Odin is too busy distracting her father with his excitement to really focus on her. 

 

“Do you like it? We’ve turned your home into an appropriate wonderland of holiday spirit. It was Nina’s idea, an inspired one at that!” 

 

“It looks great,” Niles says. “I haven’t had this much stuff out since mom died,” He adds. Oh, maybe that’s why they don’t decorate. Maybe it’s because when Grandma died she took Christmas with her. But Niles looks happy enough. “She’d love it.” 

 

“Dad,” Nina mumbles, “What did you come up here for?”

 

Niles looks pale for a moment. Then he reaches up and rubs the back of his head. “Huh. Would you look at that… I totally forgot.” 

 

Odin snorts and covers his mouth with his fingertips to hide a cute smile…  and Nina rolls her eyes. “What an old man thing to do.” She shrugs.

 

“Yeah, I guess so. I’ll remember.” He turns and walks back down to the shop, and Nina rolls her eyes again the moment he’s gone. 

 

“He’s such a loser.” 

 

“He’s so funny,” Odin says in the same breath. Nina raises up her brow at him. How could he possibly think Niles is funny? He’s just a dumb geezer.” 

 

Odin picks up a string of lights they didn’t use and starts to untangle it. “I really like him.” 

 

Nina’s brain short-circuits. “Wait.” She rushes closer to Odin and lays her hands over his. “You  _ like _ like him?” 

 

Odin’s cheeks turn a tell-tale pink and Nina’s heart sinks for a moment. He’s supposed to be her future husband! But, then again, he is pretty old, too. Not Niles old, but maybe too old for her right now. “This is a top secret confession! You can’t tell him--he was very nice to let me stay with you, after all, and I don’t want to overstep any bounds.” 

 

“Seriously? He’s fat, you know, and sometimes he farts.” 

 

Odin laughs, and it makes Nina realize he probably doesn’t care. If he really likes Niles he probably likes him enough to power through the gross things about him. He only confirms that thought by saying “I think he’s gorgeous,” in the most dreamy, absurd voice that Nina has ever heard. She stares at him a few minutes longer, only to find a layer of icy resilience melting from her heart. 

 

“Well then I guess we have to make him like you too.” 

 

Odin drops the lights in his hands and scrambles to catch them mid-air. “W-What? We? I don’t think--That’s not a good idea.” 

 

Nina scoffs. “Of course it is!” If Odin wants to fall in love with Niles of all people, it just means he has bad taste. Not that he doesn’t deserve it. “I mean, you’re way out of his league, though. He probably won’t know what to do with himself if you try and flirt with him.” 

 

“How old are you again?” 

 

“Seven.” 

 

“Right.” Odin coughs awkwardly into his fist. “I think maybe it’s best for us to discuss this again… never.” 

 

…

 

Odin doesn’t seem like he wants Nina’s help to woo and marry Niles, but that’s because he’s underestimating her and she knows it. She knows her dad better than anyone, after all. So she corners Niles downstairs that night, while Odin is out working the floor. Odin looks good in that outfit. He’s got a black  apron tied up around his waist and that’s it. That’s the only thing special about his outfit but it just looks  _ good _ . 

 

“He’s dreamy, right?” 

 

Niles snorts out a laugh and sets down the rag he was using to clean off the milk steamer. “Do you have a crush on him, luv? I thought that you might, when I saw how desperate you were for him to kiss you today.” 

 

Nina’s blush is so deep it covers her from head to toe. “This isn’t about me!” She screeches. Odin blinks and looks over his shoulder at the noise. She ducks behind Niles, Odin shrugs, and then the world resumes turning as planned. Niles turns around to pull an empty, clear cup from the dispenser and sets it on the counter while he opens up a small fridge. “It’s just, he’s really pretty.” 

 

“Mhmm,” Niles says. “He’s a very good looking man.” 

 

“And he’s single.” 

 

“Is that what he told you? Now maybe I should be worried about him stealing you away.” Niles pours lemonade and ice into the cup and hands it to his daughter. 

 

Nina takes it, and also  a straw, but she shakes her head. Odin is very nice. She’s only know him a day but she already knows he’s perfect for her dad. If he was perfect for her, he’ll be perfect for Niles too. They like the same things. 

 

“Hey dad? How come you don’t date people.” 

 

Niles huffs at her. “When did you get so nosy?” 

 

“It’s just he’s really cute.” 

 

“You think I like Odin?” Niles asks in a hush. Nina shakes her head no. 

 

“No, it’s just he likes you. He said so.” 

 

The most direct plans are always the most successful. Or, at least, in this case she hopes they will be. Odin clearly wanted to keep it a secret and move back to Ylisse to never be heard from again. But Niles looks at Nina, and then looks at Odin across the room. He’s laughing with a customer while he jots down her order, and Niles just sighs. It’s a dreamy sigh. Nina is sure. 

 

“Well he’s out of my league,” Niles ends up saying. Nina nods her head.

 

“Yeah, definitely.” 


	3. Glow

**This fire is nice**

**But so are your eyes.**

**They twinkle when you smile**

**Ain’t felt this warm in a while.**

**That Northern Star**

**Shines straight from your heart.**

**Your looks are evergreen**

**Sweet as the angels as they sing.**

**You look good in the light of my christmas tree**

**So good**

**You and the mistletoe and me**

**So nice**

**You are my sunshine**

**Over a field of Snow**

**And I love to watch you glow.**

  


The first day Odin showed up in Niles’s coffee shop he looked like he had just found salvation. There was just something weird about the whole thing, about how he wandered to the table in the back and stared out the window and just… laid his arms and head down on the table. Niles thought he had been crying but he turned out that he’s just weird.

 

He kept showing up and after a while of looking over his shoulder at his computer when he came down the stairs Niles figured out who he was, of course. And when he asked for that autograph it really was innocent and just for Nina. And letting him stay was just being a good person. Right? His mother would have let him stay.

 

But there’s just something unfairly captivating about Odin when he’s in the light of the christmas tree. The rainbow lights bounce off of his hair, his smile, the sparkle of his eyes… And he’s radiant. Nina is in bed by now. It’s Christmas Eve and Santa won’t come if she’s awake. Or at least that’s what Odin told her, and she went right to bed.

 

Maybe it was some kind of secret code. But Odin is curled up on the sofa again with a blanket wrapped snugly around his shoulders and his book balanced on his knees again. He has wine, but it’s sitting there beside him on the table, he’s not drinking it right this moment. He really seemed to like it, though.

 

“What are you reading?” Niles asks. He’s been here for a few nights now, always spending his free time drowning in that same, thick book, but this is the first time he’s thought to ask.

 

Odin glances up at him and marks the page, like he thinks it’s going to be a long story. “It’s a story about soulmates. It’s a world where every person is born with a timer on their arm, counting down until the moment they meet the person they’re meant to be in love with.”

 

“Sounds stressful,” Niles mutters.

 

“It’s exciting! This story is about a couple who don’t readily fit together. One of them has a timer that doesn’t work at all, and the other’s timer is covered by a mourning band.”

 

“I’ll bet they fall in love.”

 

“I think you’ll be right,” Odin chuckles. “Wouldn’t it be nice to just know? If the real world were like that, we wouldn’t have to second guess ourselves. Should we ask them out, should we let them walk away, should we stay or go…”

 

Niles scoots closer. Odin is startled at first, while he scoots under the blankets with him… and then he leans close enough to look over his shoulder at the book’s pages. Odin gasps and snaps the book shut before Niles can read a word. “You can’t!” Odin shouts.

 

Niles rests his arm on the back of the couch so he can set his fist in his hand. “Can’t I?”

 

“You’ve got to read from the beginning. I don’t want to spoil the end, for you.”

 

“Well they fall in love at the end,” Niles says. “I think that’s how romances work.”

 

“Yes, of course they do,” Odin says. He sets the book down and while he’s at it takes another sip of the white wine. “But the adventure on the way is just as important. Is their love slow, dramatic, and a low flame? Or does it burn red hot and with passion?”

 

“Like you,” Niles says. He hesitates a moment while Odin chokes on his wine.

 

When he turns to look up at Niles he’s got red splattered over his cheeks and he looks completely uncertain. “M-me?”

 

“If anyone were to burn red hot and passionate, it would be you, wouldn’t it?” Niles asks. Odin keeps his eyes turned down in a blush regardless. He looks entirely humiliated… and Niles loves that.

 

He didn’t really have a crush on this kid before. He’s not sure where it came from, but there’s just something unexplained at work here. Christmas magic that makes it seem like maybe even Niles deserves a happy ending to the year. Or maybe he’s a creepy old man trying to hit on a younger kid. He’s got to be a decade younger than him, after all.

 

Nina said that Odin has a crush on him. If that’s true, maybe there’s more to the weird way fate has played its hand after all. Maybe the way that Odin looks now, settled in the Christmas glow, is perfectly on purpose.

 

“I’m glad you let me stay here with you,” Odin ends up saying. “And that you weren’t mad that we decorated, or that I cleaned your house. I just feel as though I owe you a gift so momentous, I could never find it! I would be homeless right now, without you.”

 

“Yeah,” Niles says. “You’re heading home soon, though. Will you be back?”

 

“It wasn’t my plan, to,” Odin admits. He curls his arms around his knees and lays his cheek on top of them while he watches Niles. The blankets drape lazily off his shoulder. “I thought that I would leave Nohr behind and forget it forever, but now I’m not so sure.”

 

“What’s stopping you?”

 

“Well, I think Nina would be a little angry with me,” Odin smiles. Niles chuckles too, and he relaxes back into the sofa more.

 

“I think you’re right about that.”

 

“You should be so proud of her. She’s an incredible little girl. So smart and bright--she told me a story today that she thought up on her own to write and I was so impressed! I think she should pursue it! If I had started that young maybe I would be getting movie deals by now.”

 

“I’m proud of her every day,” Niles hums. Nina is his pride and joy. She’s been with him through thick and thin and he’s never going to let her go. “She likes you quite a bit.”

 

“I think she has a little crush,” Odin admits. “Or, she may have once. It may have put her off when I told her--er, well nothing.”

 

“Oh?” Niles asks. He’s sure he knows where this is going, and thank goodness. He likes the direction this conversation is taking. It makes it far less work for him.

 

“I just told her I was interested in someone else, don’t worry. I let her down gently!”

 

Whatever. He told her he has a thing for her dad. What’s gentle about that? But Niles doesn’t want to let this derail. “Tell me more about that book. Do soulmates or whatever only exist with timers?”

 

“I think soulmates exist in reality,” Odin answers. “Books can tell us stories about timers or words or colors written on our hearts and minds, but that doesn’t take away the reality that soulmates really _are_ out there. For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction, right?”

 

“I think you’re talking about math, now.”

 

“A little bit, but it works for us too. If I put all of myself out into the universe: all my heart and soul and love… then surely the time will come when I meet the person who reacts to me. Don’t you think?”

 

It makes perfect sense to Niles. And so he says exactly what he intends to. “Us?”

 

Odin’s entire face turns red and he shoves his hands into his lap. “I! Erm! That is! I did say _us_ I suppose, but I think I meant _us_ as a species, a royal whole, and…” He trails off when Niles leans in closer. His pretty, green eyes grow wider and rounder, and Odin whispers, “Are you… going to kiss me?”

 

“If you close your eyes and be quiet,” Niles answers. Odin does exactly as he’s asked and Niles leans closer until their lips slot together and they kiss. It’s slow, cautious, but it grows warm like the glow of the lights. Odin pulls his lips back cautiously.

 

Niles’s voice is hardly above a whisper. “What do I have to do to get you to stay in Nohr?”

 

“I think it would have to be something drastic,” Odin admits with a whisper. “My parents would be very disappointed if I didn’t come home.”

 

“Maybe we should get married.”

 

Odin chokes. “That was our first kiss!”

 

“Of many,” Niles says. He’s only partly sure he’s joking. Actually, if Odin said he wanted to get married right then he would be willing to give it a shot. He said he thinks soulmates are real and he made a pretty good argument. Niles doesn’t know what it is about him that makes him feel like this, but Odin has him wrapped firmly around his finger. “I know you like me. Nina spilled the beans.”

 

“She hates me,” Odin whispers back. But he leans forward. He drapes his arms around Niles’s shoulders first, but then shifts one so that he can drag his thumb along Niles’s jaw while he kisses him again. It’s a toothy kiss, with Odin’s tongue swiping past his lips and teeth and his soft moans flooding Nile’s mouth unexpectedly.

 

“Careful now,” Niles whispers as they pull apart. “The mistletoe is over there, you know.”

 

“You really want me to stay here in Nohr?” Odin asks. “I really don’t have a place to stay.”

 

“Well I did just ask you to marry me.”

 

“Well you were joking, obviously, but the matter of my living arrangements is far from a joke.”

 

“If we were married you could live here.” Niles smirks. Odin looks at him with round, stunned eyes.

 

“I… Excuse me,” Odin says. He pushes himself off of the couch and out of the warmth of the cuddle pile they’ve made together. Niles is worried, it’s his gut instinct to assume the worst.

 

“Odin?” He asks.

 

Odin shakes his head and waves his hand. “No, don’t worry,” Odin says, “I just have to get my phone--I have to tell my friends I’m getting married to a crazy man who proposed to a stranger!”

 

“Anything to keep you here, luv!” Niles calls after him. And, good lord, he thinks he might be getting married.


End file.
